There are many things to keep in mind while reading social research. Social researchers have access to resources like the internet and libraries for organizing a review of the literature. Keep in mind that reading scholarly literature is different form reading other works. Begin by reading the abstract, skimming the piece, and reading the conclusion to get a good sense of what it's about. Readers of social science literature should also form questions and take notes as they go along. When reading a research report, be sure to consider theoretical orientation, sampling, and other data-collection methods.

When conducting research, sources are of outermost importance. It is always beneficial to check the sources of newspaper reports, academic articles, and even books, as there may be information that is left out or simply a more in-depth information. A researcher should always prioritize academic works before any popular media sources or periodicals, because information in those can often be biased and unreliable, as it is often "third-hand". Academic works, on the other hand are subject to intensive reviews by other scholars.

When locating literature, the ease of access does not always mean usefulness. As such, online databases make it real easy to locate literature on the subject of interest but there are often way too many and it is hard to distinguish the truly important ones. This is why, for a good research, a researcher should take the time to review all the relevant works, in order to narrow the literature spectrum, and draw out what is important for his/her research. This does not mean that internet can not be used as a powerful research tool, yet a researcher should be very selective when choosing sources.

Unlike novels, journals are structured in a formal manner opposed to the subjective ways a novel is formulated (Ex: Novels encourage the reader to finish the piece with suspense in many cases). A journal introduces an abstract which has two purposes: first, to give a broad overview of what the piece will entail and what is being researched; second, to set the framework leading into the journal. Upon this, the summary outlines the remainder of the journal and the conclusion offer a summary to the result. If the reader has questions concerning procedure or how the the experiment was conducted, he/she may continue to read the journal for the details. Among these details, heading should be applied within the article for easy reference to what questions you may wish to ask. For example, methods would entail how the procedure was carried out as well as the sampling groups selected. Graphs can usually be identified by skimming through the article which is another good way to summarize the journal before you read the piece in its entirety. One helpful tactic to use when reviewing a journal is recording questions before hand and during the reading to better examine what the journal offers and outline any particular faults/recommendations to better the piece.

Research formatted to a book are similar to journals and can be referred to as research monographs. Instead of using am abstract, these lengthy books offer a preface that focuses on purpose, method, and main findings of the study. This preface can also be written more informally to make the study an easier read to the readers. Considering graphs and harts, it is ideal to skim though the book similar to a journal to grasp the general feel of how the piece is written. Also, reading the full piece of material is ideal. However, sometimes selecting only portions of the work to read or skimming through in search of material that is of particular interest as opposed to the whole body of work may be ideal to save time.

Identifying Academic Journals:

•Authors' academic affiliations and contact information (usually email) •Begin with an abstract of the article •Reference list at the end •Tend to be exclusively black and white

Academic journals are typically edited by full-time faculty members at major universities. An editor’s roles include soliciting articles, arranging reviews, and making final decisions as to what gets published in the journal. Editors generally serve 3-5 year terms, often without pay, as a service to the profession. Every article is reviewed by 2-3 professionals in the same field, and articles are sent to reviewers who have established publication records in the same area. This has both benefits and detriments—reviewers can make legitimate contributions; however, they can also reject new ideas that do not confirm to their beliefs. An article can be accepted, rejected, or given a “revise and resubmit.” Publishers range from an academic or commercial press to a professional association. The responsibility of the publisher is to handle printing, distribution, and finances.

There are four goals that should be met when writing a literature review: 1. Demonstrate familiarity with the body of knowledge -cite important authors and show that you understand their main points and findings

2. Show the path of previous research and how your project can be linked to it -organize your review in a historical way, starting with general sources and narrowing down to more specific sources

3. Summarize what is already known in the field -weave the sources together to integrate and interpret their meanings

4. Learn from previous research and generate new ideas -identify existing gaps, offer explanations for your ideas that may help yourself and others gain a clear understanding

Normal school papers are usually essays or library papers. In essays the writer will present the opinion of the author but not any new facts. In a library paper, information that is already known about a subject is presented. Whereas a research paper is suppose to provide an original contribution to society about that certain topic.

The writer must review all the literature on the subject, similar to a library paper, and then the writer must make an original contribution to the subject.

The writer must then make an interpret the new findings, with this part the reader may or not not agree, similar to an essay.

The original contribution discussed in the research paper can be a new theory, new data, new analysis, or new interpretation of facts that are already known.

An abstract is a summary of a research article. The abstract usually begins the article and states the purpose of the research, the methods used, and the major findings. Research monograph is a book length research report, either published or unpublished. This is distinguished from a textbook, a book of essays, a novel, and so forth. A search engine is a computer program designed to locate where specific terms appear on Web sites throughout the World Wide Web. URL is a web address, typically beginning with http:// stands for uniform resource locator or universal research locator. Plagiarism is presenting someone else’s words or thoughts as though they were your own, constituting intellectual theft.

Popular books and magazines should be avoided. Although they may offer brief insight to a topic, true, credible sources are maintained in scholarly, peer-reviewed journals. The author of a popular book or magazine may get his/her information from second- or third-hand sources; they do not create information, rather they collect it. Social journals can be differentiated in that they do not contain many colored graphics, since these are expensive. The University of Pittsburgh offers two major sociological sources: PsychLit, EconLit, or Anthropological Index.